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Drilling For Jobs? Yes We Can!

In a weekly address to the nation back in March, President Obama addressed the crippling effect of gas prices on the economy, citing the creation of 'thousands' of American jobs through his renewable energy plan, and stating simply, "we can't drill our way out of this problem."

But a new report from IHS threatens that claim, and makes the prospect of 'thousands' of American jobs look paltry compared to the estimated 1.7 million created this year by implementing the safe development of unconventional means to extract oil and gas in the United States. The report also estimates that the number of jobs could grow to 3 million by the end of the decade.

So, can we drill our way to more jobs and economic prosperity? According to IHS - Yes we can!

The key lies in the aforementioned unconventional drilling techniques - such as horizontal drilling or the unnecessarily maligned hydraulic fracturing techniques - which unlock natural gas and oil trapped in the pores of dense rock formations.

These unconventional means require larger initial investments compared to their conventional counterparts, but the future payoffs are tremendous. IHS estimates that $2.1 trillion in capital will be spent on unconventional oil and gas extraction in the U.S. by the year 2035. That activity equates to 1.7 million jobs this year, 3 million by 2020, and 3.5 million by 2035.

Karen Harbert, president and chief executive officer of the energy institute, states "We've known for some time that shale energy is truly a game-changer for America - and now we can prove it."

She adds, "This new, comprehensive study demonstrates that shale energy is already contributing over $200 billion to our economy, with much more to come, if policymakers at all levels of government don't stand in the way."

The problem with such methods according to some of those policymakers however, is the perceived environmental risks involved in the techniques. Fracking of course, has long been a source of such controversy.

Energy expert Daniel Yergin seeks to allay those fears in his recent Wall Street Journal column, which outlines three major environmental considerations, and explains how he and a committee of peers have provided best practices and solutions to the Secretary of Energy regarding those considerations.

Yergin writes, "These initiatives will help to provide a safe foundation for the further development of the industry."

Furthermore, the group plans to release a state-by-state report on the benefits of shale development in November; the importance of which could be underscored through the example of New York state.

With unconventional drilling, the supply chains are long — and the ones serving the U.S. industry mostly are domestic — so investments in nconventional plays can ripple throughout the U.S. economy, even in areas without rigs and oil field workers.

For instance, New York’s financial community stands to benefit from the investments in this arena, even though a moratorium bars hydraulic fracturing and natural gas drilling in the state.

State governments and federal coffers also can expect to benefit from the activity.

Economic benefits at both the state and federal levels make such unconventional drilling techniques a desirous prospect moving forward, as the United States tries to pull itself out of the last four years of economic stagnation.

Yergin summarizes, "The rapid growth of oil and natural gas production represents a major opportunity for the U.S."

He adds, "Without these energy resources, the disappointing economic picture would look worse, and so would the jobs numbers."

Hopefully the next administration will recognize that maybe - just maybe - we can drill ourselves out of this.

Well, more jobs sounds great! But I think by the year 2035 we won't need any oil - we will effectively use alternative energy sources. So this plan is slightly exaggerated.
________________http://www.carid.com/

This weekend, environmentalists in Portland and Vancouver (WA) staged several protests against fossil fuel use in an attempt to raise awareness of the evil of petroleum products. As I've reported, one of their big issues is to try to turn the transportation of coal via rail into the Spotted Owl of this century. They're pulling out all their old tricks to try to appeal to the Portlandia spirit and gain the sympathies of voters in the region.

The slow motion train wreck of Obamacare is picking up speed.Every few days, there’s another ugly story highlighting conservatives’ warnings about the unpopular boondoggle. Friday brought two more shockers that would cause the President deep embarrassment were he capable of it.The scandal-plagued IRS was chosen as the enforcement arm of Obamacare, so you think they would love their latest excuse to dig into Americans personal records and bully accordingly. But their highly partisan union has launched a letter-writing campaign to get out of its onerous requirements.

At first glance June's jobs report from the Department of Labor sounds pretty good: the economy added 195,000 jobs in the month and the unemployment rate stayed steady at 7.6-percent. See, that doesn't sound so bad, and the White House was quick to tell the country how fantastic those 195,000 jobs are, but the real story isn't so rosy.

It might surprise you to learn that hydroelectric power is not renewable energy. Well, it's not considered renewable in Oregon, anyway. Despite the fact that the engine of electricity production literally falls from the sky - at a higher than average rate for the United States. Due to bureaucratic nonsense, hydroelecric power cannot be applied to the state's mandate to produce 25% of its power from renewable resources. Luckily, a plucky group of citizens has picked up on this anomaly and is attempting to correct the problem.

President Barack Obama declared April 9 “National Equal Pay Day,” – a date chosen to supposedly mark how long into the new year women have to work to match the male median wage of the previous year. Obama has repeatedly lamented that women earn “up to 23% less on average” than men do; it’s a good talking point for a president who captured more than half of votes cast by women in 2012.

It’s probably safe to say that most Americans are unaware of what the term “fracking” means. If you’ve heard of it, the details can be hard to pin down due to the controversy surrounding the method of gas extraction. With mainstream movies like

Frequently, entitlement reform is discussed among policymakers as a way to reduce government spending, but the entitlement reform discussed often concerns individual entitlements, not those directed toward corporations. A recent examination of the federal tax code by the Cato Institute’s Tad DeHaven found that each year corporate welfare in the tax code cost taxpayers nearly $100 billion.

In Tuesday's State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed raising the federally mandated minimum wage to $9 per hour, a 24% increase over the current mandate. In a subsequent conversation, my friend David Guenther of the Texas Public Policy Foundation made a good point about the effects of this if it were to come to pass:

So much for a mandate. As President Obama heads into his celebrated, historic and transformational second term, the American people are distinctly distrustful of the government over which he presides.For the first time ever, a majority of the public says that the federal government threatens their personal rights and freedoms. The Pew Research Center found that 53 percent of Americans view the feds as a threat while only 43 percent disagree.